


The early days

by tayaris_limye



Series: The tales and tribulations of Jason Grace [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen, Original Character(s), baby jason grace, but later, i'll add them on the tags when that happens, lots of camp jupiter shenanigans, lots of them - Freeform, the characters that we know will appear
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-09-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24257089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tayaris_limye/pseuds/tayaris_limye
Summary: One cold night, the goddess Lupa arrives at Camp Jupiter and drops off a three year old boy. His name is Jason Grace, and the other campers have to figure out how to take care of him, and how exactly does he fit the role of "hero", that the gods insist he will fulfill.
Series: The tales and tribulations of Jason Grace [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1751059
Kudos: 12





	1. When the wolves came

Every soldier in Camp Jupiter knew Lupa. They had all visited her house, old or young, and they had all trained there until the goddess deemed them worthy. They had all bid goodbye to her and travelled from Sonoma to San Francisco to find their peers. The oldest, on their own; those under the age of twelve, with a wolf guide. Everybody knew that Lupa protected her cubs.

But she had never crossed the Camp limits.

That day, the guards couldn’t run faster to bring the news.

“Praetors! Praetors, it’s important!” One of the guards from the Fifth Cohort, named Miles, went down the mountain as fast as his legs allowed him, calling out, but no one heard him. The streets were empty. Far away, he could hear the centurions’ voices, inspecting the troops. Miles cussed under his breath, and kept on running.

He arrived just as the praetor, Reese Malster, spoke to the campers to finish the inspection, as usual. The other praetor, Jess Underhill, was too far from him. And he really was on the clock here.

He got to the augur, Orson Guerra. He was far more relaxed than both praetors, and instantly turned to him. Miles told him what was going on, and Orson took the reins.

“Go back to your partner, and one of you come back if there are any more news. I want someone at the door constantly, understand?”

Miles nodded, catching his breath, and took off again.

Orson went to speak to the praetors immediately. While Reese spoke, not paying attention to him, Orson approached Jess and gave him Miles’ message.

“Okay, thanks, Orson,” murmured Jess, turning back from the campers so that they wouldn’t see his face. “Tell the centurions from the Fourth and Fifth Cohorts to take the campers to dinner, and your partner from the Second. I’ll inform the other four.”

Reese, who had noticed that something was fishy, dismissed the troops, and helped Jess and Orson send the centurions on their way. Once they had all been informed, they left Camp and ran, more than they walked, to the entrance of Caldecott tunnel.

Miles and his partner were there, jumping with anxiety. They had reason to: not far from the guard post, there was a wolf pack coming toward Camp Jupiter.

The wolves didn’t run, but march, so close to one another that it was hard to count them in the darkness. In the middle walked a wolf at least three times as big as the others. The five demigods knew her as soon as they saw her.

“How can she be here?” muttered Orson.

“I’d like to know why.”

“We’ll know in a second,” said Reese grimly, adjusting her armor and cape.

Jess shushed her. The wolves had arrived.

The pack stood in their places, and Lupa stepped forward. There were at least twelve wolves, big and fierce with shining fur. But Lupa was the tallest of them, and her yellow eyes gleamed in the night.

_My cubs_ , she said, and they all tried not to look nervous.

\- Ave, Mother Wolf, - said Reese, stepping in front of her companions. – To what do we owe this honor?

_I come to bring a cub to camp_ , said Lupa. _A cub that will be the leader of Jupiter’s legions. You must train him like a soldier, until he’s ready to captain his father’s army._

The pack parted, and a boy around three years old went out from behind Lupa. His hair was blond, ruffled by the wind, and sky blue eyes. He walked toward them, straight spine and arms at his sides, like a soldier.

He turned to look at Lupa one last time, and she gave him a teasing smile, as if the boy were another one of her cubs, testing his claws for the first time.

_Goodbye, Jason Grace_ , she said, and the boy nodded, not daring to speak. _We will meet again. Do not disappoint me._

Lupa turned around, and the wolves left with her. A second later, on the hilltop were only six silent demigods, and the wind howling around them.


	2. An opportunity for the Fifth

Jess had never imagined that one day he’d have to call a Senate meeting to discuss a three year old boy, and yet he’d done just that. The notice was on pinned to the bulletin board, and pretty much every senator in camp had passed by the _Pretoria_ to ask why. He hadn’t specified it on the paper, of course. That was just too much.

It wasn’t because of the kid himself, if he was honest. Jason was a very kind boy, and actually mostly normal, at least by Jess’ standards. But taking care of Jason, “training” him, as Lupa had ordered, was causing him a permanent headache.

They had decided not to include him in any cohort just yet. He wasn’t at all ready to join the legion, and after all, he was Jupiter’s son, it was his right to choose. Him and Reese had decided that the best option was declaring him _probatio_ for a year, like all the other recruits, but letting him live in New Rome for a while, until he could choose himself.

All of that was well and good. The senate had agreed, and that same night Jason had been accommodated in the _Domus da Salve_ , the New Rome orphanage for children whose parents had died in battle. Jess suspected that the senators had agreed on it so quickly because they didn’t want a toddler making their image flunk. Still, Jason would be way better with kids his age, and not living around soldiers.

The problem had been designing a cohort to teach him. They couldn’t just forget about it, it was a direct order from Lupa. At first, there were dozens of volunteers, all wanting the honor of training Jupiter’s son. Jess had told them not to dream too much, that Jason was only three years old and couldn’t even tie his shoelaces, but they hadn’t listened.

Heath and Logan, centurions of the First, had snatched the position, and now they were complaining that it was a waste of time. Jess, who came from the Third cohort, would have loved to ignore their protests, but it would have been irresponsible.

So now here he was, fixing up their mess.

The meeting was that afternoon, and he had some free time, so he went to visit Jason before confronting the senate.

He found the little boy in Juno square, in front of the _Domus_ , chasing doves with the other children. Apparently, Heath had had to leave. An emergency. Unavoidable. Jess looked up at the sky. _Gods, give me patience._

It was kind of ironic that the _Domus da Salve_ was in Juno square. Not two days ago, Orson had received a direct message from her: Jason wasn’t just Jupiter’s son, but her champion, and she was his patron. That seemed like one too many responsibilities for such a young child, but that wasn’t Jess’ calling.

“Hey, buddy!” he called him. “Come here a sec?”

Jason ran toward him. He looked much better now than the night he’d arrived. He was clearly happy to be with other kids, and he came showing off a smile full of baby teeth.

“Hi, Jess!”

“Hi, Jay! You good?”

Jason nodded vigorously.

“Doves are evil,” he said, very serious. “They’re always yelling, y’know? We’re telling them to go away.”

“Defending New Rome already, I see.” Jess grinned at the little boy. “Listen, do you like your new home?”

“Yeah, ‘cause the beds are super good. And I have a whole drawer to put my things. I didn’t have one in the wolves’ house. Did you?”

“Honestly, I don’t remember. I went there a long time ago.”

“Then you’re very old, Jess!”

Jess laughed. “Me, old? You should see some of the senators. They’ve been here almost ten years. Now that’s old. But hey, don’t go around telling people that they’re old, okay? Most people don’t like that.”

“Okay. But Jess, I called you old.”

“Well, that’s okay. I don’t mind that.”

“So you’re not people?”

“Not for that, no. But I am like everyone else in a lot of things.”

“Like what?”

Jess doubted. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

Jason shrugged. Jess ruffled his hair, and saw that he had ten minutes to get to the meeting.

“Well, buddy, I have to leave, or I’ll be late. I’ll come back tonight, okay?”

“Okay!” Jason grinned at him again, and ran off to the other kids.

Three year olds were very funny people, Jess thought, and made his way to the senate.

Up until that day, Jess had considered himself pretty patient. After listening to eight senators and too many lars argue for half an hour about something as stupid as a class, he probably deserved the Nobel Peace Prize.

Reese kept trying to settle them down. She had told them to stay silent unless they were volunteers at least twenty times, but the lars, who were particularly frenzied, wouldn’t stop butting in and making the centurions even more nervous. Heath and Logan had almost been sent outside to calm down. They were getting so many jabs from the senators belonging to cohorts Second to Fourth, that they would probably belt out more serious threats at some point. The centurions from the Fifth had spent the entire time in silence, and Jess couldn’t blame them. Nobody listened much to the Fifth.

Reese, completely fed up, jumped from her seat.

“That’s enough! Everybody be quiet! If anyone else speaks out of turn, they will be expelled, whoever they are!”

Finally, the lars fell silent. Reese sighed in relief.

“I’ve heard all your excuses to not take care of this. I don’t need you to repeat them over and over. I’m going to make this very clear: if there are no volunteers, we’ll make a raffle. Do you all understand this?”

The senate murmured their agreement. Reese took a deep breath.

“I’m asking for the last time. Is there any cohort that volunteers?”

Silence. Jess stared at the centurions, one by one. Reese inhaled again, clearly upset, and then Louise, from the Fifth Cohort, stood up.

“We’ll do it, Reese. The Fifth Cohort volunteers to take the job.”

The lars exploded in a turmoil yet again.

“The Fifth?”

“They’ll spoil him!”

“You can’t entrust the son of Jupiter to the worst Cohort of the camp!”

Reese didn’t even flinch.

“I don’t see anyone else offering.”

“Greedy bastards, that’s what you are!” yelled one of the lars. He was so furious he’d turned almost-solid, and he would have attacked Louise if Reese hadn’t been glaring at him. “You only want him to boost your reputation!”

Reese’s voice was as cold as ice.

“Caio Pictor, leave the room. You had been warned.”

Seeing that Reese was deadly serious, everyone shut up again. The lar choked on his words and left fuming. Reese turned to Louise and Nora.

“Are you sure about this?”

“Absolutely.”

“But, who’s going to take care of him?” asked Heath. “I don’t know if you know this, but training that kid is a full-time job. Are you going to use one of the few good recruits you have only to take care of him?”

“At least our recruits can forget their own glory to care for a child, Heath,” said Nora. “And we’re not going to do without any of us. The whole cohort will help. That way, nobody will miss training, and he’ll always be with someone.”

“That’s your plan? Pass him from one department to another like a toy no one wants? What kind of education is that?”

“It’s not such a bad idea,” said Orson, who seemed surprised to be defending the Fifth. “If it’s done well, of course. Say, if he had a teacher for each subject, it could work. And there’s a huge variety of people in the Fifth. A son of Jupiter should see those things, I think.”

“Did he just defend the Fifth or am I dreaming?” said someone from the back.

Orson shrugged. “It’s a good plan.”

“But…”

“Why not give the Fifth a chance?” said Jess, who was taking a liking to Louise and Nora’s suggestion. “After all, every other cohort has shown that they have no interest in Jason. Wouldn’t it better to entrust this to someone who is going to take it seriously, even if they aren’t the best cohort? Remember that he’s only three. He’s not a soldier yet.”

“I agree with Jess,” said Reese quickly. “Let’s vote, then. Those in favor of the Fifth Cohort training Jason Grace, raise your hands.”

Jess counted. Louise and Nora voted in favor, as did Orson. The two centurions of the Fourth raised their hands as well, and so did Ella, from the Third, and Chris, from the Second. Nine against four, counting the praetors.

“It’s settled, then,” said Reese, clearly relieved. “Fifth Cohort, the Senate entrusts you with the education of Jason Grace until his tenth birthday, when he will choose his own Cohort. You’re all dismissed.”


	3. Little soldier boy

“I’m going to catch you!”

“No!”

“Yesss!” Clay Fisher raised his hands, as if they were claws. “I’m coming for you, Jason!”

“No!” Jason laughed, running only a few steps ahead of Clay, going up the hill. They’d been running for a while already, and the kid was turning out to be much more resistant than Clay had expected.

“I’m gonna eat you!” he screamed, and taking a stride, he caught Jason under the arms and hauled him up.

Jason screamed, still laughing, and ran off again the second his feet touched the ground.

“You can’t catch me, Clay!”

Clay took a look at his watch. It was about time they went back to camp. It only took him a few minutes under normal circumstances, but he’d rather not push the limit with a three year old. Particularly, with a three year old as curious as this one.

“Jason, we gotta go!” he called, but Jason didn’t listen. Clay sighed. Turning Jason Grace into a soldier was going to be dam hard.

“Jason, come here, we can’t be late! Louise and Nora have said that we have to be there, so we’re going!”

Jason stopped, pouting.

“Can we play later?”

“Dunno, buddy, I don’t know the timetable. I’ll ask Louise, okay?”

“Okay.” Jason grabbed his hand, and they marched down the hill. “What we gonna do now?”

“I don’t know, really. I have sword fight, but you’re not doing that yet. I think you’ve got administration duties.”

“That’s no fun.”

“But it’s necessary.”

“Yeah, right.”

“Don’t make that kind of face. Besides, everything can be fun if you want it to.”

“That’s not true.”

“Hey, I’m being honest here. What about what we just did, then, huh? Older people don’t play tag, did you know that?”

“They don’t?”

“Nope. We just have to run. And we can’t talk.”

“That’s boring.”

“Yeah. But we’ve had a good time, right?”

Jason nodded. “Clay…”

“Yeah?”

“Are you gonna be my teacher all days?”

“Uh, not for everything. You’re going to have a ton of teachers. The best of the Fifth. But yeah, I’m going to teach you PE. That’s Physical Education.”

“You know the others?”

“Of course, buddy. They’re my friends. You’ll like them I lot, I promise. Hey, what’s wrong?”

Jason looked sad. He shrugged, looking at the floor.

“I don’t want to be a soldier.”

“Hey, don’t say that. You’re the son of Jupiter. You’re going to be great.”

“Yeah, but…I don’t want to. The others stay in New Rome and play all day.”

Clay sighed. That was one hard question. He crouched, so that he’d be on eye level with Jason.

“They’re all going to be soldiers one day, too. When they turn ten years old, they will travel to the Wolf House, with Lupa, and she will decide if they’re worthy or not.”

“But…”

“Jason, listen carefully. I know that right now you don’t like this at all, because everyone is much older than you, but I promise that you won’t have to do any grown-up things until you’re grown-up too. Besides, your dad and your patron have said that you have to be here, so that’s what we’re doing. We can trust them, okay? And if you turn thirteen and decide that you still don’t like it, you can leave.”

Jason’s pout didn’t fade. “That’s really long time.”

“Look, let’s do a thing: we’ll wait for a while, and if I see that you don’t feel at home here at camp, I’ll talk to the praetors to see what we can do, okay?”

Jason smiled weakly. “Okay.”

Clay had been right. Jason had administration duties with Izzy and her decuria. Warehouse organization or something like that. The cohorts took turns keeping the stocks clean, and before them came the Fourth, who had a reputation for being sloppy, so they expected a load of work.

Clay got to Izzy as soon as he and Jason arrived back at the camp. He had something important to tell her. Izzy agreed with him, and she promised to take pictures. Then, she took Jason by the hand, and the eleven campers (plus toddler) went to the warehouse.

“Gods, this is a disaster,” murmured one of the boys.

It was. Almost everything was out of place. Isabelle rolled her eyes. The Fourth Cohort honored their name.

“We don’t have to clean up everything today,” she told her group. “Nora has given us a week, until we have war games, so we just need to tidy a small part of each section for emergencies. We’ll split up into pairs, and each one will get a section. Amy, Nathan, you guys get armors; Remy, Chris, weapons; Doris and Haley, clothing; Kevin and Nicky, medical supplies, and Ross and Courtney, bedding and cleaning.”

“What about you, Iz?” asked Ross.

Isabelle turned to Jason, who still hadn’t let go of her hand.

“Jason and I will pass by all sections. We’ll help you all, and that way our pupil will learn what’s everything in here. Anyone got questions?”

Nobody did, so she clapped her hands and set them all to work.

Jason was still a little down, like Clay had told her, so Isabelle decided it was a good time to test their idea.

First, she took the little boy to the clothing section, where Doris and Haley were working. Both girls were in a good mood, and they offered to show the whole thing to Jason. Haley loved little kids, and she made him sit on her shoulders to see the upper shelves. She even got him to “help”.

“Hey, Jason, you don’t have a shirt of these, do you?” Izzy asked.

Jason, who at that moment was very busy “helping” Doris fold a sheet, shook his head.

“The other centurion said I couldn’t until I was a soldier for real.”

“The other centurion?” said Doris. “Who?”

“He probably means Heath,” guessed Isabelle. “But it’s not important, because I think that you totally deserve a Camp Jupiter shirt. Aren’t you helping out like a true soldier?”

Jason’s face lit up. “Really?”

“Of course! But you must be very careful, because only the best demigods are soldiers at Camp Jupiter.”

“I’ll be careful, I’ll be careful!”

“Well then, what are we waiting for? March, my soldiers! Our quest for the t-shirt has begun!”

Even the smallest of the purple shirts was enormous for him, but he squirmed inside it anyways. It almost reached his feet, but he grinned like it was the best outfit in the world.

“Soldier, salute!”

Jason raised a toddler hand, and Isabelle corrected his posture trying not to laugh.

“No, you have to do it like this. See? Now it’s perfect. And we have to get you a helmet too, don’t you think?”

Jason nodded eagerly.

“Well, come on, what are you waiting for?”

He ran to the armory section, holding the t-shirt with both hands to not step on it.

Once they’d gotten their hands on the smallest helmet they found and a dagger scabbard (as if Izzy were going to let a three year old play with an actual blade. He might be the son of Jupiter, but he could still accidentally kill himself with it), Izzy whipped up a black pen and drew a mock tattoo on Jason’s arm, complete with the letters SPQR, an eagle and one whole line. Painting wasn’t her _forte_ (her father was Nemestrinus, god of forests, not Apollo), but Jason was satisfied. He refused to take off the helmet or the belt with the scabbard, no matter how much they weighed, and there was no way to convince him until dinnertime came and Isabelle told him that nobody went to dinner with their weapons. They left everything in the warehouse, “for when he got older”, and finally called it a day.

Isabelle left Jason with Clint, the manager of the _Domus da salve_ , and left off running to the review, her pockets full of polaroids. She ought to keep them somewhere, but not for her. Who knew, maybe Jason would want them at some point.

And who wouldn’t, she wondered, thinking of the little boy wearing a huge t-shirt, the scabbard dragging along the ground, and raising the helmet with one hand to see, all with the biggest grin she’d ever seen him. She really had to tell Clay about that.


End file.
